


The Ancient Baths

by wherenonagoes



Series: Erethi Lavellan [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Exalted Plains, F/M, Fade Sex, In the Fade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-17
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-31 01:28:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3959257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherenonagoes/pseuds/wherenonagoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a long day, Solas suggests that they take a bath.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ancient Baths

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this is what I wrote after being too excited about the balcony solavellan scene, and really liking the idea of the ancient elves having communal bath houses. Because who doesn't like large hot-tub like baths?

The gentle lull to sleep came like it did every night; the same whisper of something much older than the man lying next to her caressing her body. She smiled, and she slipped under, not noticing as her consciousness was pulled from her own and into a different realm by a familiar hand.

With her eyes closed she tried to guess the destination before the smooth voice told her. The only thing she could feel was steam running over her face, heat surrounding her. She gave up, opening her eyes to see a massive stone building, steam rolling out of the carved entryway towards the two people who stood in front of it.

"I thought a relaxing bath would do us both well. Wouldn't you agree?" Erethi almost couldn't answer as she stared at the large building; it simply overflowed with heat she could feel herself sweating already.

"Yes, it sounds wonderful. This place.... is familiar. Where are we?" Erethi continued to look around before her eyes finally landed on the man with her. Solas stood just a couple inches taller, though that would be more if she weren't wearing shoes. He wore his regular tunic, the same necklace hanging midway down his abdomen, what appeared to be a charred wolf's jawbone. She spied it for a bit before looking back up to his eyes, smiling and almost forgetting she'd asked a question.

"We... came here not too long ago. These are the ancient baths of the elves that now stand in ruins in the Exalted Plains. A familiar place for both of us." Solas then held out his hand, his small smile making Erethi's heart race. She took it, trying to maintain a calm demeanor, but knowing Solas could tell she was beyond nervous. Maybe he was too, she didn't know.

The two entered the stone building, walking through the halls until they came upon several large and heated baths. Faint spirits sat in the other steaming pools, some acknowledging them, some completely oblivious to their presence. Erethi couldn't help but be nervous with others being around, even if they didn't care about them. She gripped Solas's hand tighter before he pulled them down another hallway and into a room with a single tub. The large pool, as it was too large to simply be a tub, appeared to be the same size as her quarters back at Skyhold, just all water and not wood. A stone bench with woven pillows atop it stood at the close end of the pool, near the corner of the room, the opposite side holding a window that looked onto the river and the larger communal pool.

"I'll be right back." Solas kissed Erethi lightly on her hand before leaving the room and the young elf by herself. She shuddered and closed her eyes, holding her hands to her chest before she opened them again. She might as well be productive while he was gone, and so she moved towards the corner with the bench and began to undress herself, trying to keep the idea that this bath would be a good thing despite how she was feeling.

The buttons down the front of her shirt came undone easily after being so used to taking them off, and her pants as well. Erethi folded her clothes and placed them on the armrest of the bench, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked around for a towel. There were none in sight. She bit her lip and nodded to herself, that was fine. That was probably where Solas went, and still was. He would be back before she wanted to get out of the tub, so it should be alright that she go in without him. She nodded to herself again and took her undergarments off, folding those as well, placing them on top of the rest of her clothes. There was no time like the present.

The steam rising from the bath started to sooth her more, relaxing her muscles and loosening her frame. Then she dipped a toe in to check the temperature and sighed, a smile curling up her lips. Erethi closed her eyes and stepped in, her arms lowering from her chest to keep her balance as she entered the water. The last thing she expected was for Solas to walk in right then.

"Vhenan..." He didn't get past that, stopping in his tracks. Erethi froze where she stood, and in her attempt to quickly cover herself her foot slipped on the stone, causing her to fall into the pool face first, submerging her in the hot water. She quickly resurfaced, blinking the water out of her eyes and coughing the water out of her lungs before she turned around to see Solas staring at her, towels and soap in his hands. He gathered himself and turned his head away, looking toward the bench her clothes rested on. "I apologize. I hadn't realized you would take this time to undress. Are you alright?"

He placed the towels on the bench next to her clothes, and turned to face the opposite direction. Erethi wondered what he was doing until she realized he was beginning to undress. She averted her gaze and nodded, only realizing he wouldn't see that.

"I'm fine. I just... didn't expect you back so soon." Erethi swam over to the edge of the pool nearest the bench, sitting on the stone that acted as a step around the perimeter of the pool. She didn't watch Solas undress, just listened as he folded his clothes and placed them down. There was no need to watch him until he stepped down into the pool next to her,and when she did she held her breath.

"Would you like me to wash your back?" The question was so simple, it was so harmless and naive, yet it made Erethi's heart beat like a war drum. She couldn't speak, so she simply nodded her head and turned away from her heart. The first touch felt like stone rubbing across her skin, and that was when she realized that Solas was in fact using stone to rub down her back and smooth it out. The cold surface soon became warm from the steam rising around them, and the small rock slowly worked out the knots in her muscles. The rock finally stopped, and she stretched out her back, raising her arms above her head and rolling her shoulders.

"Thank you, Solas."

"I'm not done yet." Erethi swore she heard amusement in his voice, but she kept herself from turning to see him. She didn't want to break the fragile bubble they were in. Again Solas's hands came down on her back, this time with the large bar of soap, gently pushing into her skin in slow circles. It felt divine, and again, Erethi closed her eyes, smiling. Solas's hands brushed over her skin more with the soap, the small calluses on his fingers and palms tickling her. Then his hands were gone, and she heard him fill a small bucket, and braced herself for the water to wash over her. It came down slowly over her back, spilling to wash over her chest as well, covering her with the warm water as the soap and bubbles were washed away into the pool. She sighed after he finished, stretching her arms again and, without thinking, she turned around.

Solas sat behind her, naked as she was, the bucket still in his hands. He placed it down on the surface next to him, and Erethi couldn't help herself. She moved just a fraction of a hair closer to him and grabbed his hands with hers, raising them out of the water. She turned them over and ran circles around the small calluses, wondering how many staves he must have handled by that point, how many enemies and monsters he must have driven away to protect himself. She smiled down at his hands and then looked back up to him. The tips of his ears and the tops of his cheeks stood out as a faint pink color compared to the rest of his skin.

"Thank you, again. Would you like me to return the favor?"

"If you so wish. We've no need to bathe in the Fade."

"And that's why you brought us to an over-glorified bathtub?"

"I... No. I thought it would be relaxing, and your gestures and body movement would suggest that I was correct in that assumption." Solas seemed very sure of himself, and Erethi couldn't help but laugh at his response. She took his hands and kissed them before she moved closer, pulling herself to him with his arms. She settled his arms around her waist, placing her own around his neck.

"You could say I'm feeling a lot more relaxed than I was when you walked in on me."

"I wouldn't call it 'walking in on you' if the intention in coming here was to see you naked in the first place." Solas smirked, and at realizing what he'd said, he stopped smiling, the pink on his cheeks and ears growing slowly.

"So you planned to get me naked? I would have never guessed that, coming to a bath house and all." Erethi continued to laugh and kissed Solas lazily on his nose, pressing her own against his. They stayed like that for almost a minute before Erethi began to grow hot, and not just from the water.

"Well, the intention was to get your permission. I... I hope I have that at this point." Solas pulled his head away only an inch, trying his hardest to not look down at her body, and she smiled before kissing him lightly to stop him talking.

"I think you got permission for this well before we came here tonight, Solas." Erethi kissed him again, her lips lingering on his own before he pushed their bodies closer together, tightening his hold on her. His force reminded her of the only other time they'd been in the Fade together, and she couldn't imagine a better place to be while she slept, kissing him back as she locked her arms around his neck. She broke away from him for a second, looking over him and letting her gaze sink down to what waited for her under the water. Erethi had tried not to look, as he had tried to not look at her, but with her breaking this unsaid rule he did the same, taking her in with his eyes.

"I guess I only wanted to make sure here, before doing something wrong elsewhere." The tips of his ears and the tops of his cheeks began to return to their normal color, and Erethi smiled before leaning back in to kiss him again. Solas took her by surprised, picking her up from her seat and placing her on his lap, looking only slightly up to her before kissing her again.

Erethi pulled away, gasping for air as she pushed her short hair back, running her hands through it to keep it out of her face. Solas watched her, eyes glued to her body as she moved, the water dripping off of her still. At one point he couldn't move his gaze from her breasts and the way her nipples perked just so. He kissed each one lightly, sending shivers down her spine before he kissed his way up her neck until he reached her mouth. Erethi pushed her hips down onto his own as they kissed, biting his lip lightly before opening her eyes again to look into his, the silent question answered when he began to move.

"It's been a while," he whispered, helping her move and lift herself only a foot above his lap.

"Are you saying what Sera and Blackwall asked has some truth?" Erethi couldn't help herself, and as soon as she asked the question Solas's ears grew pink again.

"I will not comment on my relations with anyone in the past. You're the only one that matters to me now, vhenan." He kissed her sternum before looking down in the water, his mouth hanging open only slightly as he moved his lap forward, grabbing his cock with one hand and holding Erethi up with the other.

She bit her own lip until she felt him pushing into her, her mouth hanging open until he covered it with his own as she felt him push deeper. They sat still for a minute, Erethi leaning her forehead against Solas's.

"I should have told you before..." It hadn't exactly been a secret, Erethi had only been 23 when she'd been sent to the conclave, she hadn't exactly been looking at anyone except Solas since then. To tell Solas now was probably stupid on her part, but at least she was telling him.

"I know."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know want to say-"

"Don't apologize. There is nothing wrong." Solas kissed her again, keeping their hips together before he slowly began to move. Erethi gasped, her mouth hovering over his as she clung to his shoulders. He moved so slow, but the heat around them, the heat of him inside her, was almost too much to bear. She wrapped her arms around him, effectively pushing his face into her collarbone as she began to move herself, lifting her hips and lowering them, the water almost not resisting them.

Solas took pity on her, never going as fast as he seemed to want, and she noticed this, kissing him whenever she could and trying to fasten the pace herself. He wouldn't let her, intent on being gentle for her first time. As it was, Erethi couldn't last long in their position, her thighs tiring quickly from having to pick herself up under the water. She sat on his lap, with him still filling her before she could speak.

"I think... we need to move out of the bath." Erethi began to lift herself up from the water as she spoke.

"Agreed." Solas nodded, helping lift her off of him. The heat from inside her vanished and she found herself shivering, wanting it back more than anything. She tried to keep herself calm, she would get it back soon enough. She climbed out of the tub, her wet feet padding on the ground as she walked over to the bench. She quickly moved their clothes and the towels, not being as careful with them as they both had been when first placing them there. She didn't care if her clothes got wrinkled right now.

She sat on one of the pillows, effectively getting it soaked with bath water as it dripped off of her. Solas followed close behind, leaning down to kiss her before helping her move, pushing her body to be the length of the bench, making sure her head rested on one of the pillows.

"Solas... I love you," Erethi breathed, pulling his head closer, kissing him fervently before he spread her legs once more, positioning himself again. His response was lost to her as he pushed himself in once more, and she closed her eyes, hands wrapping around Solas's back, nails almost scratching him as she tried to hold on.

Without the water hindering them, and Solas in an easier position to move, Erethi could barely speak as he pushed into her again and again, her mouth hanging open until Solas moved to claim it. He kissed her wildly. Where she had nibbled at his lip before, be hit almost hard enough to draw blood, pushing his tongue into her mouth and claiming it almost as his own, all the while continuing to move his hips. Erethi gasped every time he thrust into her, feeling him push against the very edge of her. The fire that had been in her hips before felt like lava now, and she screamed as she came, digging into Solas's back with her nails and biting into his shoulder to quiet herself.

She continued to shudder for a moment, and Solas made no other movement, just breathing heavily as he held himself above her. Her eyes were shut tight as she tried to compose herself, and then she finally relaxed, her arms falling to her sides, her eyes opening lazily to see Solas above her. He pulled out slowly, the loss making her shiver, almost cold despite the steam still rising from the water next to them. She moved to sit up, allowing Solas some space to sit next to her. As soon as he sat down she leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes again.

"I never imagined that to be so... tiring," Erethi sighed, opening her eyes once more to look back over the tub. Solas laughed then, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her hair.

"You only think it to be tiring, right now, vhenan. If you wish to do the same when we wake up..."

"Sleep sex, and morning sex? Since when are you so generous with affection?" Erethi chuckled to herself, pushing her face into his chest.

"Since I figured out how beautiful you are," Solas whispered into her hair. She looked up at that, catching his gaze with her own before kissing him silently, just placing her mouth over his own for a brief moment.

"I would love that." Erethi smiled against his mouth before kissing him again. She went back to leaning onto his chest, watching the water lazily turn over in the pool before them and gazing out the window every so often. It stayed quiet until a breeze came through, causing her to shiver. "Maybe we should get back into the bath and actually clean ourselves."

"Whatever you wish." Solas kissed her head, standing from the bench and holding out his hand to her. Erethi smiled and took it, rising with him and stepping into the large pool with him, all nervousness out of their systems, all hindrances gone and forgotten.

  



End file.
